Disclaimer: The characters in this fan fic are not mine (maybe a few of them), they belong to JKRowling, for she is far more superior than us commoners.

Authors Note: Hello! This is my first Fan fic so please be gentle on me. I've waited scince October 2003 to start this and now that I have finished my GCSE exams I am free!!! Ootp spoilers. Here is the first chapter… enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sitting on a swing in the play park of Little Winging, staring moodily straight into the ground, was a boy. His back was hunched from the effects of being depressed, his frame was skinny but he was very tall, maybe not as tall as most fifteen-going on-sixteen years olds but tall enough.

Harry Potter had just lost his devoted godfather the previous summer term while enduring his OWL exams at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, he was currently in the grieving stage of mourning and was not talking to any one at all, in fact he hadn't uttered a single syllable since he got off the Hogwarts express, this was taken on quite pleasantly with the Dursleys who were happy not to accept any sign of life from Harry.

There is no point in this, thought Harry. He didn't want to soak up the Dursleys' ranting on how late he is out in the evenings even though Harry thought that the Dursleys would much prefer it if there was not a trace of him in house than if he were actually living in it.

He trudged to number four Privet drive, ignoring anyone's frightened stares of 'the potter boy', dragging his feet he barely noticed Mrs. Figg's knowing and condoling looks which highly irritated him. He hated all of the notes and letters of sympathy from anyone who knew Sirius's innocence. Harry didn't mind his two best friend's letters who tried vainly to disguise their sympathy, or the Hogwarts Game keeper, Hagrid's direct tone of it. The only thing that lowered his angry state of mind was Lupin's normal letters, he was the only one who understood what Harry felt like and he was the only one who Harry would write about his feelings to.

Reaching Number four Harry took in a deep breath as though about to step in poisonous gas and rang the doorbell, five minutes later bony Aunt Petunia was at the door unwillingly admitting Harry inside the house, She opened her mouth, about to tell Harry off no doubt, when an owl carrying a small package swooped in from the opened door and landed on Harry's shoulder, Harry took this opportunity to literally run from his aunt's ranting, so he bolted off up the stairs and reached his bedroom while slamming the door satisfactorily shut.

Harry looked around his room, it gave all signs of a teenage boy who didn't care at all about what he did during the hours he spent in the room, it was his domain and he could do whatever he liked in it, even if it meant that clothes messy and untidy as his hair was only visible, that his books were sprawled around on every inch of floor they could reach and that there seemed to be every clue of a magical boy living at number four, he didn't think that he was ever in the mood to clean the mess he makes after himself but could any body blame him except for the Dursleys?

Harry ripped open the letter and package, his patience with opening anything had retired long long ago. It was from Lupin. Ahh… immediate relief, he read over the letter.

Hello Harry, I am sorry if this comes a day or two early, I am never too sure with owls, but have a happy birthday, hope you like the present and we'll see you soon.

Lupin 

Harry hoped that the 'we'll see you soon' meant that he would meet the order soon, but he dared keep his hopes up lest he suffered another major emotional breakdown. He opened the cube box impatiently, it was a small, glassy, misty, spherical stone, it had a rough surface and it strangely captured Harry's fullest attention and concentration for a few seconds as though extracting out something from him. Harry tapped it with his fingers three times wandering why he was so attracted to it, he stared at it meditatively then placed it gently into his pocket. Then the thought struck him, it wasn't his birthday today, the thirty-first of July was not for a few days, he referred back to the letter and skimmed his eyes over it for a second until he got his answer.

The next morning when Harry woke up he was yet again plunged into the depression of reality and wiped angrily away a tear of idealism from the side of his eye which was about to streak down his face.

The rest of the day was like every other day of the past month, the sun dragging against the sky as though deliberately unwilling not to carry on it's natural path. There were still chores to do and there was still Dudley's huge ego to endure but at least there was an end, Harry couldn't wait to get back to school at least he was sure that there was an exit from the maddening life at the Dursleys.

That night when Harry was in one of his deep meditative session in his room, thinking and brooding about Sirius, A golden light of fire shot at his eyes and brought him out of his reverie, Harry was panicked for a moment, thinking that there was a flying fire then he realized that a phoenix feather was levitated in front of his very eyes. He brought out a hand to touch it, when he made contact a small piece of parchment was folded in his hand, the name 'Harry Potter' written in loopy handwriting scrawled along the top of it. Harry opened it and read.

Dear Harry, you'll be pleased to hear that members from the order will be picking you up to take you to the Burrow tomorrow at nine o'clock am. Further information will be brought to you there.

Professor Dumbledore         

Harry was ecstatic, which was the first positive emotion that he felt since leaving Hogwarts. He would be meeting his friends after a month from not seeing them and at the Burrow as well! Harry immediately started packing, he found it difficult to find a starting point among the mess but decided on simply dumping everything into his trunk.

His broom, his robes, his clothes, his books, his countless dirty socks, everything was in his trunk except for his wand which he took extra care to have on him ever since the dementor attack last summer. He was ready to go, he had adrenaline pumping through his veins, his heart rate was up as though he had run a mile and the tips of his mouth were twitching as though he were about to smile silly to himself. Then he just noticed two owls at the windowsill looking tiresomely at Harry as though they had been standing there for at least half an hour waiting for him to take notice of them, which they had.

One of the owls he noticed was the Weasley's family owl, Errol. He looked as though he would lose consciousness at any minute so Harry immediately brought him over to Hedwig's water bowl. Harry took off the lump of a package from which Errol was carrying and opened it, there was letter from Ron, a bunch of chocolate, a letter from Hermione and a book on ancient rune, he didn't need to guess which person sent which present. The letter from Ron was typical and it mentioned all of the Chudley Cannon's sad and disappointing failures of the summer. Hermione's letter was also very typical of herself and it mentioned all of the exiting new discoveries of the ancient rune age, hence the book. Harry tossed his letters and presents in his trunk and took out a chocolate frog to munch on while he waited for nine o'clock the next day. After finishing the chocolate frog Harry didn't bother to brush his teeth but just tumbled on his bed, tying to go to sleep. He tossed and turned and eventually he did fall asleep, and the next morning he woke up with his eyes full of excitement and so much vigilance that it would make Mad-eye-Moody proud.

Authors note: what did you think?